Each year, the Marion County Board of Supervisors has allotted funds to help the Domestic Family Abuse Center Inc.
On Wednesday, DAFS Executive Director Rebecca Stewart shared thanks with the Board and explained the group’s mission.
“We have 11 counties that we service and you are one of them,” she told the Board. “I want to thank you for your support every year, because we survive on donations, grants, federal funds and state funds. We haven’t compiled the 2017 stats, but for 2016, we served 240 victims in the shelter. I can assure you that number will be higher for 2017.
“The nights in the shelter is what blows me away, that was 1,642 nights for women, 2,497 nights for children and we even had a man who spent five nights in the shelter. We had 28 protective orders for women; our legal advocate helped 116 of those women through the legal process.
“We do it all – simple legal services and counseling. Our counseling is free and they don’t have to be in the shelter. You could have someone in your family that is experiencing domestic violence and they could come for free counseling.”
Stewart also shared big news about moving into a new shelter next month.
“Our current shelter in Hattiesburg is probably over 100 years old, and it was just not feasible to make it for ADA standards. So three years ago, the Board bought a former assisted living facility and we’ve been able to renovate it,” she said. “My goal when I joined the organization last November was to get in the new shelter. I’m happy to say that next month, we’ll be moving. We are that close. It’s hard to do on limited funds, but we borrowed some money and we were able to complete the work. Federal funds will be paying for the renovations. We’ll pay the money back as we receive our funds.”
The new shelter is much larger than the current facility.
“Normally, when someone comes in the shelter, they might have to room with three or four people,” Stewart said. “What we’ve done is we now have some family bedrooms where we can house five children with their mother, and then we have bedrooms that just have two single beds. They can have a room to themselves if the shelter’s not full, but if it is full, then we’ll definitely have to put two people in a room. But two people in a room is a lot better than three or four. Most of these rooms have their own bathroom. It’s like a dream come true to be able to have it like this and make it a little more private for them.”
Stewart said they keep clients up to 90 days, and clients are required to volunteer and look for a job.
“They can’t just lay in the bed all day. We make sure their children are in school,” she said. “We provide everything. The victims don’t pay a thing. It’s with your help that we can do that.”
To contact the Domestic Abuse Family Shelter Inc.’s 24-hour crisis line, call 1-800-649-1092. For the office, call (601) 428-1707.
Pictured Above: Rebecca Stewart speaks with the Marion County Board of Supervisors Wednesday. | Photo by Mark Rogers
